Picking a Fight with Francis? Santorum Misses the Point of Pope’s Encyclical

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently doubled-down on his challenge to the most popular man in the world: Pope Francis. He dismissed the pope’s upcoming, June 18 encyclical letter, “Laudato Si” or “Praised Be,” on the climate, scoffing that the pope is not a scientist.

In saying that Pope Francis should “leave science to the scientists” and focus on “theology and morality,” Rick Santorum is missing the basic truth that climate change is a matter of morality.

Why? Because environmental stewardship is as old as Scripture itself.

In the first book of the Bible, God tells Adam and Eve to “till and keep” the earth. The founders of the faith took this command to heart and identified God as “creator of heaven and earth” at the beginning of the Christian creed.

The Catholic Church didn’t begin caring about the environment with the election of Pope Francis in March 2013. Care for creation is at the heart of Catholic social doctrine.

Francis is no radical here. He is merely expounding upon the tenets of a two millennia-old faith that believes God created this earth and that “it was good.” Pope Francis is lifting up what the Church has always held to be true: that climate change is not only a scientific issue, but a matter of faith as well.

“Climate change is for Catholics a profoundly spiritual, ethical, and moral issue. While discussions of climate change often involve debate about economic theory and political platforms, and while it can involve issues of partisan politics as well lobbying by special interest groups, our focus is on the moral and spiritual issues involved. Climate change is about our responsibility as God’s children and people of faith to care for human life, especially future generations, by caring for all of God’s wondrous creation.”

Even beyond the Church’s concern for protecting the environment, Pope Francis will remind us that climate change is a human issue. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to recognize the suffering of the poor and excluded. Through these eyes of faith, Francis will invite us to recognize that climate change has a disproportionate impact on those who live in deepest poverty and that God asks us to respond to their suffering with both compassion and justice.

Senator Santorum might dismiss Francis’s words, but we must take them seriously. We are well aware of what happens when corporations pursue profits without regard for their impact on the environment. Greed and shortsightedness have cost people jobs and produced a Midwestern Rust Belt. Seeing the injustice, we’ve managed to go in a different direction and have begun to create a green economy that relies on sustainable jobs and care for the environment.

Pope Francis will visit the United States later this year. Let’s show him that we hear his call to action, and we’re responding. Instead of lecturing the pope on what he can and cannot talk about, Santorum might want to spend more time following his lead. Francis’s 90% approval rating should be enviable to the man currently in the bottom third of the GOP primary.

Allison Walter is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and a recent graduate of Saint Louis University. She is the policy education associate for NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby based in Washington, D.C. Her passion is in the intersection between faith and politics.